Ignition device



June 3, 1930. *J. L. ARTHUR I 1,761,514

IGNITION DEVICE Filed March 15, 1929 .i Emiakg u Patented June 3,1930

Ummo SITATEYS PATENT OFFICE- JAMESL. ARTHUR, or ANDERSON, INDIANA,A'ssre'non 'ro DELGO-BEMY CORPORATION,

Q on nnnnnsong INDIANA, A oonronn'rxon on DELAWARE;

renrrron nnvron Application filefi March 15, 19219, "seriarn a mw.

This invention relates to improvements in ignition devices for internalcombustion engines. V Y

It has been found that an engine when comparatively cold will start morereadily if the time of sparking impulse has been advanced beyond thenormal high degree. After the engine has become self operative, however,and the temperature thereof hasrisen,itis of course necessary forefiicient engine operation to again readjust thetiming ofthe sparkingimpulses so that they will fall within the proper range of normal engineoperation.

It is among the objects ofthe present invention to provide means forautomatically adusting the ignition timer in accordance with enginetemperatures so that the time'of sparking impulses will be substantiallyvanced when the engine temperature is comparatively low. 1-

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, whereln a preferred form of the embodiment of the presentinvention is clearly shown.

In the drawings: 7 i V Fig. 1 illustrates the ignition device applied tothe crank case of an engine. v 0 Fig. 2 is a part sectionalview takenalong the line 22 of Fig. 1. I w

Fig. 3 is 'a plan view of the ignition device with the distributor capremoved.

Fig. 4. is a detail sectional view taken along the line H of Fig. 2.

The timer designated as a whole'by the numeral 20, comprises a housing21 having a tubular extension, one portion thereof designated by thenumeral 37. being of greater transverse dimensions than the portion 22,"

the latter portion fitting into a recess provided in the crank case 23'of the engine whereby the ignition unit or timer 20 is supported on saidcrankcase. Thetubular extension 5 provides a bearing for the drive shaft24 of the ignitionunit which supportsa pinion 25 in driving engagementwith the pinion 26, the latter pinion being driven by the engine;

The timer l1ousing21 is cup-shaped andcon I tains the circuitinterrupter whoseoperation isclanrpedf on to the'po rtion 37 of thetimer tat-ed -relative to the drive shaft 24.. which provides iior thesparking impulsesof the engine.) v a The circuit interrupter providestwo Icon- ,tactsfa movable onedesignated by the numoral 27 and astationary one designated by the numeral 28. The movable contactv27 iscarried on the free end 'of'contact lever 29 pivoted on pin 30 which issupported in the timer housing 21 Contact arm 29 has a rubbing b10ck 31.A cam 32 is carried by the end of the drive shaft 24 extending intothehousing 21'. Rubbing block 31 is urged into engagement with cam 32 by aspring 33, one

end ofwhich iselectrically connected with the terminal screw 34insulated from the timer housing 21 vin any suitable manner. When therubbing block 31 is-ofi the: lobes of thelcam-32, contact 27 willengagethestation ary contact 28 which'is carried by a bracket 35adjustably supportedwithin the housing 7(') 21. i 1

i Cam 32 rotates in a: direction of the arrow 36. In order to advancethe time of sparkingiinpulsesthe housing. 21 may be rotated inadirection opposite to therotation of cam 32 whereby the instant ofcontact separation is advanced; Rotating thehousingl 21 in thedirectioniinwhich the cam: is rotating will retard the time of circuit.breaking, or more specifically will cause thecontacts-27 and '28tovbeopenecl at a later moment.

As shown inFigs. 1=, 2 ands, the portion 37'of'thertimer'h as an arm 4.0securedthereto, said arm having :a- :split hub portion which by thescrew 4. 2=a1nd itsassociate nut; 43. Thus rotation of levertO. willtend to rotate the housing portion 122 inits bearingprovided by thecrankh'case'23so that said housing isrocarries the cam 32. i v

The -means' for manually adjusting the timer 20 comprises a rod50,-011'6 '611d0f which is secured toiithe: spark-adjusting levercarried by the-steering wheeland not shown on the present drawings,- theother end of said rodbein'g secured to a lever 41 by the :pin 51. The:levier il has a hub portion rotatably supported on the portion 37 ofthe housing 21.. Adjacent one 'en'dof the lever 41 there isprovided aslot 44 through which extends the screw-threaded shank portion of thescrew 45 forming a part of a drag element which prevents accidentalmovement of the lever 41. The screw 45 of the drag element has anenlarged shank portion 46 and a head portion 47 of larger transversedimensions than the shank 46. A cup 48 having an opening in its bottomwall through which screw 45 extends, is urged into gripping engagementwith the lever 41 by a spring 49 interposed between the cup 48 and thehead 47 of the screw 45.

The arm 40 is connected with thelever 41 by a thermostatic link adaptedto automatically adjust the ignition timer relative to the manuallyoperated lever 41. This link connection comprises a cup-shaped housinghaving an extended portion 61 pivotally secured to the arm 40 by pin 62.The open end of the cup-shaped housing 60 is provided with a cover 63having a central lug portion 64 apertured slidably to support the stem65, the inner end of which extends into housing (30 having a plate 66attached thereto. The outer end of stem 65 is attached to the lever 41by a pin 67. Between plate 66 and the cover 63 of the housing, there isprovided a spring 68 urging the housing 60 toward the lever 41. Betweenthe plate 66 and the inner end surface of the housing 60 are providedthe thermostatic elements which automatically adjust the timer inresponse to varying engine temperatures.

A plurality of plates or washers 69 are pro-- vided in the space betweenthe plate 66 and the bottom of the housing 60, each washer being engagedon each side thereof by the peripheral edge of a dished bi-metallicthermostatic element. Fig. 2 clearly shows these bi-inetallic discs, theedges of which are'slidably supported on washer 69, one bi-metallic dischaving its peripheral edge slidably engaging one surface of the plate66. At normal engine temperatures the discs 7 0 will assume a shapewhereby the linkage connection between the lever 41v and arm 40 will besuch'that the timer will be in its proper advance position when thespark control lever, not shown but secured to the rod 50, is in itsfully advanced position. Decreasing temperatures tend to contract thediscs 7 0 whereby they will be more arcuated, that is, more deeplydished, and thus the arm 40 will be automatically moved away from thelever 41, thus the housing 21 will be rotated clockwise, or in adirection opposite the rotation of cam 32 and consequently at theselowering temperatures the timer 21 will be adjusted to advance the timeof sparking impulses beyond a normal advanced position. Increasingtemperatures of the engine will cause the discs 7 0 to expand, resultingin their becoming more flat or dished less deeply, and thus spring 68may function to move the housing 60 toward the lever 41, resulting in acounterclockwise movement of the housing 21, or in a direction of thearrow 36 which is the retarding direction for the spark timer, and thusthe timer will again be moved to properly adjust the time of sparkingimpulses for the normal operation of the engine.

From the aforegoing it may be seen that Without adjusting the manuallever 41, the linkage connection including the thermostatic disc 70 andspring 68 contained within the housing 60 will automatically adjust thetimer relative to the manually operable lever 41 in accordance withengine temperature conditions so that if the engine is cold, the time ofsparkling impulses will be properly advanced and after the engine hasbecome self operative and warmed up, the thermostat will automaticallyadjust the timer to the position in which the normal time of sparkingimpulses is again restored to normal.

While the form of embodiment of the pres ent invention as hereindisclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood thatother forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claimswhich follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. An ignition device for an internal combustion engine comprising, incombination a timer; manually operable means for adjusting the timer tovary the time of sparking impulses; and temperature controlled means foradjusting the timer relative to the manually operable means in responseto varying engine temperatures.

2. An ignition device for an internal combustion engine comprising, incombination, a timer; means for adjusting the timer to vary the time ofsparking impulses; a manually operable lever; and temperature controlledmeans connecting the said lever with the timer adjusting means.

3. An ignition device for an internal combustion engine comprising, incombination, a timer; means for adjusting the timer to vary the time ofsparking impulses; a lever; and a link connecting said means and lever,said link being expansible and contractable with increasing anddecreasing temperatures respectively.

4. An ignition device for an internal combustion engine comprising, incombination; a timer including a casing, a circuit integrupter in saidcasing and a cam for operating the interrupter; a lever attached to thecasing; a lever rotatably supported by the casing; and a linkconnectingsaid two lovers, said link varying in length in response to varyingengine temperatures.

5. An ignition device for an internal combust-ion engine comprising, incombination, a timer; a manually operable lever; linkage connecting thelever With the timer said linkage including a thermostatic elementexpansible and contractable in accordance with varying enginetemperatures.

6. An ignition device for an internal combustion engine comprising, incombination, a timer; an arm on the timer for adjusting it to vary thetime of sparking impulses; a lever rotatably supported on said timer;and a thermostatic element connecting the lever to the arm.

7 An ignition device for an internal combustion engine comprising, incombination, a timer; an arm for adjusting the timer to vary the time ofsparking impulses; a manually operable lever; a cylinder attached to thearm; a piston in the cylinder, attached to the lever; and thermostaticmeans within the cylinder for moving the piston in said cylinder. 7

8. An ignition device for an internal combustion engine comprising, incombination, a timer; an arm for adjusting the timer to vary the time ofsparking impulses; a manually operable lever; a cylinder attached to thearm; a piston in the cylinder, attached to the lever; thermostatic meanswithin the cylinder adapted to expand in response to rising enginetemperatures and move the piston relative to the cylinder; and a springurging the piston against the thermostatic means to move said piston inthe opposite direction when said thermostatic means contracts inresponse to lowering temperatures of the engine.

In testimony whereof '1 hereto affix my signature.

JAMES L. ARTHUR.

